Fish and Game Department officials described hikers Dany Daigle and Bruno Boutin, of Quebec, as experienced and prepared hikers, but the two said they ran into trouble during severe conditions on the mountain.

Daigle said they reached the summit Sunday afternoon without a problem, but on the way down, the wind was so strong that they couldn't see, and their eyes began to hurt.

"We found a big rock that we could sleep under," he said. "We tried to light a fire, but the matches didn't work. We couldn't make food because our can of gas was too cold. There was no pressure in it."

Their water had also frozen, so they decided to use their locator beckon. The GPS device sends a signal to rescuers, letting them know they were lost.

"The only information that led us to starting the search was that we had this personal locator beacon signal activated," said Capt. John Wimsatt. "Otherwise, we wouldn't be searching."

Crews searched through the night while the men hunkered down. The hikers said they survived the night by taking turns waking each other up to make sure they didn't become hypothermic. Daigle said that at one point, his toes began feeling numb, so he got up and walked around about every 15 minutes.

The two began following a stream Monday morning, hoping it would lead them to the road. A helicopter spotted their orange survival blanket by early afternoon, and they were flown off the mountain. Neither was injured.

The hikers said the experience won't deter them from hiking in New Hampshire again during the winter, but next time, they said they would bring more equipment.

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